Hand in Hand
by Arlecchina-Rosa
Summary: "...But, I still won't go away, because you're my brother, and no matter how much you might hate me someday, I'll always love you..." Prussia's determined to keep an old promise he made to his little brother, even if West claims he doesn't want him to. The world has changed a lot since the confederation, but, it seems that some things never really change. Gift fic for animefairi!


**And here it is! The beginning of my gift fic for animefairi! Tada! She wanted something with Germany and Prussia, (I'm so happy!) and I was not about to give up the chance to write a family fic about two of my favorite Hetalia characters, so this beautiful(ish) tale was born! It was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but then I decided the one-shot needed a prologue, (this chapter,) so I wrote it, in hopes that I could post everything as one long chapter, but then I realized that it was going to be too long for just one chapter, or even two chapters, so it's now a full-fledged story. Consider the extended length to be a special bonus for animefairi, since I took so long in posting this... Also, to everyone reading this, even though I may not be able to update this regularly at the same time as The Hero's Formula, it's still more than okay to add this to your story alerts, since, as I said, it's going to be a pretty darn long story.**

**So, enjoy, everybody! Especially you, animefairi... You deserve it, and so much more, but, unfortunately, my local supermarket doesn't carry "_so much more_," so, you get just "_it_" instead. Presenting, a humble attempt at reciprocation that probably won't live up to your expectations, but something that I still very much enjoyed writing anyway.  
**

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_In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield._

~ Douglas MacArthur

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1870 - Berlin, capital of the North German Confederation

The little blond boy jerked out of his troubled sleep with a gasp. He was trembling, and his breathing was labored. He was sweating as well, despite the fact that it was a rather cool night. He threw the blankets off, but instantly shivered at the cold. Yes, the room was very drafty, and he was simply shaking because of the low temperature. Fear had absolutely nothing to do with it... or at least that was what he kept telling himself.

He gazed out into the expanse of blackness surrounding his huge bed. The darkness seemed to stretch out indefinitely, an infinite ocean of nothing. The young child felt very tiny and helpless in contrast.

He thought he heard a rustling sound outside, like fingernails clawing at something, and he promptly hid under the covers.

"_No, stop it, you're being a coward,_" he mentally scolded himself. He shouldn't be hiding. Hiding was for little girls, not strong empires. There was nothing to be afraid of. He was perfectly safe. He was in Berlin now, he was back in his home. Nothing could hurt him here.

_It was just a dream. Just a dream. Dreams aren't real. Nightmares are all in your head. Just a dream. Just a dream..._

The chant did little to calm his nerves, but at least it gave him something to think about besides the darkness all around, or worse, his terrifying nightmare.

No, that wasn't good. Preuβen said it was bad to forget your dreams, even the unsettling ones. If you shoved them out of sight, into the recesses of your brain, they could come back the next night.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to relive the nightmare.

Blood. He remembered blood. A lot of blood. The smell of gunpowder, the sound of countless screams... Death, all around him.

You see, the child's dreams were different than most. He never dreamed of bogeymen, or hungry trolls. Not once did his nightmares involve a dragon, or a fiendish creature under the bed. Those things didn't scare him in the least. No, this particular young boy didn't dream of monsters.

He dreamed of war.

Despite his small stature, and the fact that his appearance was that of a young adolescent, the boy already knew more about war than even the most seasoned warriors from his country. Any time that wasn't spent training for it was spent in his bruder's huge library, studying the art and history of war.

Yes, war fascinated the young boy like nothing else. And yet... it also terrified him. These dreams made it a hundred times worse, reminding him nightly of Death, who walks hand in hand, arm in arm with War.

Tonight's dream had been particularly unsettling. He had been fighting hard, among his men, charging the enemy relentlessly. He didn't know who he was fighting, that was never a detail he was given. He did know that the enemy wanted him dead, though. That was enough. He would fight to protect his land, his people. These people wanted to destroy him, but he would not give them that chance, not ever.

But, once he and his men had reached the top of the hill, where they could easily survey the extent of their opponent's forces, it had been obvious that they were vastly outnumbered. Their campaign was futile. And yet, he tried anyway. He couldn't see his bruder anymore, he couldn't see anything but the blood and sweat that mercilessly obscured his vision.

The blood of his people was everywhere, painting the field in a sea of red. The boy could hear his fellow soldiers screaming in pain as they met their fate. Still, he had to keep going. Even though this was a purely unwinnable war. Even though there was only one possible outcome. Even though there was only one fate left for him now. This was a suicide mission, and he knew it. He was going to die. All he could do was take as many of the enemy as possible before he was killed. He stumbled forward, shooting blindly at the oncoming warriors, and then-

Nothing.

All his dreams ended this way. With his death, or, at least, the few moments before his death. He would always wake up just before the final blow, but that didn't change the fact that he had known, without a doubt, that he was about to die. That was what scared him the most.

No, not scared... He wasn't scared! Definitely not scared, not at all. He was strong, he was a nation! He didn't know the meaning of fear. He was just... concerned, as anyone naturally would be when given such a disturbing vision.

Perhaps these dreams were omens of the future. Did... did that mean he was going to die in a coming battle? Had it been a bad choice to decide to fight alongside his bruder in the upcoming war with France? Were they going to lose? Yes, that had to be it. He was going to die... At the hands of _France_, no less!

He didn't want to die. Not yet. He had so much more he wanted to do! He wanted to make his Vati proud of him... He hadn't done a thing yet!

_"Gott_, don't let me die... Please don't let me die..."

It was then that he noticed the unbidden tears in his eyes, that had appeared while he was asleep and unable to stop them. He quickly wiped them away. Crying was a sign of weakness. The boy hated weakness above everything else. He could feel more of the cursed tears starting to come, but he refused to let them fall.

The boy was completely and utterly alone in the darkness. He tried to convince himself it didn't matter. He was the mighty Confederation of _Deutschland_, and he needed no one. He didn't need family or friends to comfort him and tell him that everything would be all right. He didn't need those things... but, deep in his heart, he still wanted them, irrational or not.

He placed his head on his pillow, and attempted to fall back to sleep, but all he could think of were the battles in his dreams. Despite his earlier declaration that he wasn't scared, he could feel the paralyzing fear gripping his heart. He was completely alone tonight, left to face the darkness and his deepest fears.

Then, he remembered something. Preuβen was nearby! Brave, strong Preuβen was right down the hall!

"P-Preuβen? Bruder? Where are you?" When he received no reply, he called slightly louder, his voice growing gradually more desperate. "Bruder? East! Preuβen! Bruder!" He yelled every name he could think of for his brother/guardian, even crying out his human name, Gilbert, a name he normally refused to say, because it felt so informal and colloquial.

After a full minute of dead silence, the young blond realized Preuβen wasn't coming. The boy felt upset. He felt abandoned. He felt scared. In a rare moment of distress, he buried his face in his pillow and cried.

"Bruder... W-why don't you come?" he moaned through his tears. Almost instantly after saying it, he felt a wave of self-hatred washing over him. What was he doing, calling for his big bruder and sobbing like a little baby? He was weak and pathetic.

The depressing thoughts only made him cry harder, which made him more frustrated, which brought on more tears. It was a vicious cycle. His thoughts were starting to blur, and his chest ached from crying so hard. Eventually, he managed to grasp a moment of clarity, and realized that he would have to calm down to stop crying. He made himself breathe slowly, until the tears finally stopped falling.

_ I-I don't care what bruder says... It's n-no fun being alone..._

An idea struck him. He should go look for Preuβen. Just to make sure he was all right. What if he was hurt, and that was why he didn't come? Yes, he should go check on his older bruder. Not because knowing Preuβen was there would make him feel any safer, of course. He was doing this for Preuβen's sake. It was his duty, as heir apparent to the German Empire, to make sure everyone in his house was safe at all times.

Pushing back the heavy blankets, he slid out of bed, bare feet hitting the floor with a slight thump. Cautiously, he tiptoed across the floor. Suddenly, he heard heavy, purposeful footsteps in the hall. He froze, eyes wide. The sound grew louder, then abruptly stopped. The owner of the footsteps was close to his room. Too close.

Gathering up all his courage, the young boy approached the door. He reached for the doorknob, hand trembling slightly despite his best efforts to be brave.

Before he could open the door to determine the identity of the intruder, the door abruptly swung in toward him. He stumbled backwards, landing on his back with a cry of surprise and fear.

The tall, imposing shadow in the doorway spoke. "W-West? Is that you?"

Relief flooded the small boy. He knew that voice well. Only one person in the entire world called him West.

Fighting back tears, he pushed himself up from the floor, and quickly closed the distance between himself and his brother. His small hands gripped Prussia's nightshirt with an almost frantic determination, like the older nation would vanish if he let go.

"Wha-? West, are you all right? No, that's a stupid question, of course you're not all right..." Prussia bent down to his brother's level, red eyes radiating concern.

"B-Bruder... I-I didn't think you were c-coming," the boy managed to say through his sobs. He knew he probably looked like a mess right now, but he didn't care. Preuβen had come, everything would be okay now that Preuβen was finally here.

"Oh, Lutz, of course I came..." Prussia picked his brother up in his strong arms, and held him in a gentle hug. He walked over to the bed and sat down, letting the distressed blond rest his head on his shoulder. "I wouldn't leave my little _bruderherz_ all alone..."

The young boy tried to formulate a proper response, but it got stuck in his throat, choked by a fresh attack of tears.

"Shh... Don't try to talk... Just relax. I've got you, it's okay..." Prussia patted the boy's back in an awkward attempt at comforting him. "...Was it another nightmare?"

The boy nodded miserably.

"Yeah, I thought so... Nightmares are unawesome, huh, West?"

"...Ja."

"Don't worry, they can't hurt you anymore. You're safe."

The boy wrapped his arms tightly around his brother's neck. "I know..."

They sat there like that for a long time, neither one saying a word. Then, the boy remembered something he needed to ask his bruder. Preuβen was really smart, he knew everything, so he would know the answer to this, for sure...

"P-Preuβen?"

"Ja, West?"

"Do... do nations _die_?"

Prussia hesitated a bit before replying. "D-die? Wh-why would you want to know about that, West?"

Blinking the tears away, the boy made himself look up at his brother. Prussia's bright red eyes were filled with confusion and worry.

The blond swallowed hard, focusing intently on coherently articulating the fearful thoughts that plagued his mind. "M-my nightmares... They're all... a-about the war... And they... they all end... the same way... I-in every single dream..." His gaze fell. "I d-die."

"You... die? Oh, _Gott_, West..." Prussia sounded horrified.

"Th-that's why I have to know if nations can die..." The boy's blue eyes shone with a mix of fright and childlike curiosity. "I think these dreams are telling me that I'm going to die in the war with France..."

_I mean, Vati died, didn't he? He was a nation, and the strongest empire ever, that's what Preu__β__en said! If they could kill Vati, then how much easier would it be for someone to kill Vati's youngest son?_

"I don't want to die... I-I'm _scared_, East..."

It was the hardest thing he'd ever had to admit to someone, and he quickly hid his face in his brother's shirt, too ashamed of himself to meet Preuβen's gaze.

"Oh, West," Prussia whispered, almost to himself. "Sweet little West... You're just a child... you shouldn't have to be worrying about that kind of thing yet..."

"A-am I going to die, Bruder?"

"Nein, West. Not on my watch, you won't."

"Promise?"

"Ja, I promise. I'll always protect you, West. I'll keep you out of danger, if it kills me."

The boy gasped, eyes wide with fear. "_K-kills_ you?"

"Okay, really bad choice of words there. Just forget I said that. I'm not going to die, and neither are you."

"But-"

"No buts. You're my little bruder, the awesome me won't let you die. Do you understand me?" His voice was caring, but firm. He was making the promise not just to his little brother, but to himself as well.

"Ja, I understand..."

"Good. There's no need to be scared, West. I've got your back..." He grinned. "...And your front too. And your top, and your bottom, and your fingers, and your toes, and your eyes, and your ears, and your mouth, and your nose..." He tapped his brother's nose to emphasize his point.

The boy started to giggle in spite of himself. Preuβen was so silly sometimes...

"Are you feeling a little better, _kleinen bruder_?"

"Ja... D-don't leave me yet, though."

"I won't leave you, West. I'll stay by your side for as long as you need me." He chuckled softly. "Even when you don't need me, or even want me there, I'll still be around. You won't be able to get rid of me, even when you're the biggest, strongest empire in the world. I'll be right there with you, closer than a Siamese twin. I'll haunt your basement, if I have to! Someday you'll get tired of me, and you'll shout, 'Preuβen, you're so annoying, just leave me alone for a little while!' ...But I still won't go away, because you're my bruder, and no matter how much you might hate me someday, I'll always love you."

"I won't hate you, Bruder... I won't ever want you to go away... I'll always want you around."

"Good, because I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with the awesome me, so you better get used to it."

The boy sighed contentedly. "...Danke, Preuβen."

"For what, awesome little bruder?"

"For... for staying... You... make me feel safe..."

Prussia glowed with pride. "It's no problem, West."

The young boy blinked tiredly, realizing for the first time how very sleepy he was. "I... I'm tired, Preuβen..."

"...Would you like me to sing you an awesome lullaby to help you sleep?" Prussia asked almost teasingly.

The child frowned. "...Lullabies are for little kids." He hesitated slightly, blue eyes wavering. "B-but if you really want to, I suppose it would be okay..."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose... You're probably getting too old for songs anyway..."

"N-nein! I don't mind, really..." He wanted his bruder nearby for as long as possible. Besides, Preuβen was a really good singer.

"Well, okay, if you insist..." Prussia feigned indifference, but it was obvious he was simply teasing. He gently mussed his little bruder's hair, and, for once, the boy didn't really feel like fixing it.

"_Deutschland, Deutschland, __ü__ber alles... __Ü__ber alles in der Welt..._" Prussia began in his throaty tenor voice. The boy instantly recognized the song as _D__as Deutschlandlied_. "_...Wenn es stetz zu Schutz und Trutz, Br__ü__derlich zusammenh__ä__lt..._"

The boy leaned against his brother's warm chest and closed his eyes, a peaceful smile gracing his lips. He loved this song, though he supposed he was a little bit biased, since it was about Germany, his country. It was about brothers, too, which made him like it even more. Brothers taking a stand together, to protect and defend their people. That was him and East, they would defend the Confederation with their lives, if necessary.

"_...__Von der Maas bis an die Memel, von der Etsch bis an der Belt..."_

Nothing, nothing in heaven or on earth, could ever ruin the happiness that the blond felt burning steadily in his chest at that moment. Prussia would stay with him forever, and Germany would never want him to go. Never. Nothing was more important than brothers. They would work together, side by side, hand in hand, until the day they died. Together, of course. How could they _not_ die together? Two brothers so close as they couldn't possibly survive if they were forced to be apart. They would never have to be apart, though, so there was no need to even worry about such things.

_"...Deutschland, Deutschland, __ü__ber alles... __Ü__ber alles in der Welt..._" Prussia held that last note out, letting it fade off gradually.

"..._Ich leibe dich, mein bruder Preu__β__en,_" the boy said through a yawn. He could barely keep his eyes open anymore, he was so tired. The last thing he heard before dropping off to sleep was his bruder's voice, soft and soothing, warm and comforting.

"_Ich leibe dich auch_, West..._ Ich leibe dich auch_."

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Translations:

Vati - Father, Daddy

Kleinen bruder - Little brother

Bruderherz - Literally, Brother Heart, similar to saying "Brother dearest" or some other such term of sibling endearment

Ich leibe dich, mein bruder Preuβen - I love you, my brother Prussia

Ich leibe dich auch - I love you too

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**Fun fact: The song Prussia sings at the end there is called _Das Deutschlandleid_ (or the Song of Germany, in English), and the tune was written in 1797, by Joseph Haydn, while the lyrics were written by August Heinrich Hoffman von Fallerslaben in 1841. Part of the song (not this part) currently serves as Germany's national anthem, and it's probably the most awesome anthem in the history of awesome anthems. I only had Prussia sing the first verse, but there's actually quite a bit more to it... Check it out, it's a great song. **

**The lyrics of the song loosely translate to: _Germany, Germany, above everything, above everything in the world, when, for protection and defense, it always takes a brotherly stand together. From the Meuse to the Memel, from the Adige to the Belt, Germany, Germany, above everything, above everything in the world._  
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**Contrary to popular belief, the song has absolutely _nothing_ (got that? absolutely _nothing_ whatsoever) to do with national supremacy. The original point of the song was simply that a unified Germany was really important to the people back then during the days of the North German Confederation.  
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**************************************You may be wondering why, throughout the chapter, I consistently said 'the boy' or 'the small blond' instead of just calling him Germany. This was intentional, I assure you. In my mind, at this point, Germany is still growing into his country status, and won't technically be known as Germany until he officially takes on the title of the German Empire, after the end of the Franco-Prussian War, when he's completely unified. Also, he's just a kid at this point, (I'd say he's about eleven or twelve in human terms) and isn't normally addressed by his nation name, so he isn't used to calling himself Germany yet. The only person he's even remotely close to is Prussia, who insists on calling him West all the time, instead of some variant of Germany or the North German Confederation. So, Germany knows who he is, on an intellectual standpoint, he just hasn't really come to think of himself as such yet.**

******On a slightly different note, it's my personal head canon that Germany really looked up to Prussia when he was a child. Everything Prussia did was 'awesome', simply because it was Prussia who was doing it. Prussia was seen as the most awesome guy ever, because he was Germany's big brother, and big brothers are cool when you're twelve. Naturally, Germany quickly outgrew this stage, but it's still adorable to picture.  
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**Anyway, with this particular story, I'm trying to be at least mildly historically accurate, so there will be a brand new addition to the end (or sometimes beginning) of each chapter: _Hetalia History Lesson Time!_ Here, I will explain some of the historical background of the chapter, and also either explain or rationalize any seeming anachronisms or anomalies. I will sort of alternate between history-speak and Hetalia-speak (Hetalia-speak, meaning I refer to the nations as people, just so ya know). This isn't going to be perfect, but I'll try my best to make it at least somewhat accurate. Feel free to think of these little extras being similar to the little clips on Hetalia when the girl narrator starts talking about history, to make the show sound at least remotely intellectual.**

**_Hetalia History Lesson Time!_  
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_**This chapter is a sort of prologue, and it's set just before the Franco-Prussian war. This would be **_**after**_** the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, FYI. The cute blond**** k****id**** in this chapter is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, undeniably Germany, and therefore is **_**not**_** HRE, unless you're convinced there isn't really a difference between the two. I personally don't have an opinion on the Germany=HRE debate, so it won't really come up in this story. Either way, this chapter is set during the existence of the North German Confederation, and that places it more than half a century after HRE's death/disappearance/amnesia/whatever the heck else you want to call it. Just wanted to clarify that point, to avoid confusion. Moving on... **_

_**After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, the German Confederation (the beginning of what we now know as Germany) was formed. After the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, it became the **_**North**_** German Confederation instead, which, from what I can tell, was pretty much the German Confederation with the word 'North' tacked on the front, only smaller, and without Austria. **_

_**The NGC included young Germany's many, many member states, along with Prussia, and a few other duchies and principalities. Since big brother Prussia was older, bigger and stronger than all of the Confederation's other itty-bitty member states combined, he was pretty much completely in charge of everything at this point. I'm guessing that besides trying to unify the pieces of his disjointed empire, Germany spent much of his time just reading books and training for war, which he obviously knew was coming eventually, since relationships between Prussia and France were growing progressively strained (read: downright ****hostile****).  
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**_Eventually, Prussia decided he wanted to go to war with France, and France simultaneously decided he wanted to go to war with Prussia. This was mainly because France didn't like Prussia's increasingly strong influence over little Germany. France and Prussia were right on either side of Germany, and both of them wanted to expand their empires. Whichever side had control of Germany had a much better chance of being the dominant force in Europe, and, since Prussia was raising Germany, and helping him to get stronger, that meant Prussia was growing in strength as well. As Germany got older, the little blond started working on unifying all of his member states into what would soon become the German Empire. (But he wouldn't accomplish that quite yet. That doesn't come until after the war.) France, understandably, wasn't happy that Germany was growing up so quickly, and thus becoming a force to be reckoned with. He was even less happy to learn that _****_Germany had decided that, in case of war, the NGC would fight alongside Prussia to defeat the French..._  
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******_...Yes, something definitely had to be done about the North German Confederation.  
_**

******_And thus ends Hetalia History Lesson Time._**

**************************Ooh... Cliffhanger. Sort of. It's history, so it's kind of hard to pull off an effective cliffhanger when anyone could just go look it up in a history book and find out what happens.  
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**************************By the way, this is probably going to be one of the more cheerful chapters of this story, so enjoy the fluff while it lasts. I'm following Prussia and Germany's history, remember, so it's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows forever. (A thousand apologies to animefairi, who wanted a fluffy story... It will be fluffy again eventually, I promise, it will! There will be more of the wonderful brotherly fluff you asked for! It does turn out all right, in the end... It just has to get a little worse before it can get better.) The next chapter will be set in the modern day, but there will be more flashbacks in later chapters.**

******Read and review, everyone! I want to know your thoughts on the story so far... and don't hesitate to be honest!  
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******To be continued...  
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******Arlechinna Rosa  
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